How to Learn to Write by Reading

It is the ultimate goal of every author to engage with and captivate their audience, and spin out masterpieces, like those by William Shakespeare; George R.R. Martin; J.K. Rowling; Oscar Wilde; and other literary greats. Even though all these writers have completely different styles of writing, there is one thing they all have in common: They have figured out a way to evoke a strong emotional response from their readers, and that's one thing that keeps their readers hooked. Every single author mentioned has captivated their readers by causing them to fall in love with their writing, and adore their stories. There is a way we can model our stories after theirs without either compromising our own unique style, or committing the ultimate writer's sin of plagiarism.

The way we do this is simply to read their work, but from the standpoint of an author. We need to read beyond the story, and dissect how it is they create such a strong emotional response. We need to figure out exactly how it is they capture their reader's attention, and how they inspire strong emotions in their readers. For instance, how exactly did Shakespeare inspire such sadness with his tragedies like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, and such intense feelings of joy with his comedies? How does George R.R. Martin make readers weep at the death of even relatively unimportant characters? Well, the secret is in the way they write their story and characters. For example, in my opinion, in the case of Shakespeare's tragedies, there is an underlying sense of sadness, but also the illusion that everything may work out. He feeds readers desire for a happy ending with beautifully-crafted happy moments throughout the play, but then pulls the rug right at the end, often right as things are about to work out. And, in the case of George R.R. Martin, he creates the illusion that the character is pivotal to the story by making that character important to other characters who are vital parts of the story; therefore, he makes every death, even ones that are relatively unimportant, seem like a big deal. This is just my opinion on how they might have inspired such strong emotions with their works. Everyone's opinion might be completely different, and that is a good thing. The important part of writing is individual style, and therefore it is of paramount importance when using this method to formulate your own opinion on how they have written their story and figure out how to integrate the strategies they used into your own work.

This strategy works with any style of writing, in all genres. The important thing is to find exactly what it is that triggers the emotional response you wish to trigger, and then to implement it in your own writing. Of all the methods that can help you improve your writing, this one is absolutely the most important and most effective. There is no limit to the potential this method offers, and therefore, its usefulness cannot be measured.

Once we have figured out how to ignite a fire in our readers, we must then make use of that strategy. But, the most important thing is to find and develop your own unique style of writing. Only then can we truly captivate our readers. It's important not to merely mimic great writers, but to learn from their styles and use the knowledge we gain from their writing to better our own. The only way to develop your own style of writing is simply to write. Write as often as possible, and eventually, your own true style will emerge. With a little luck and a lot of practice, your writing can be great as well.